Chapter 11

"I'm sorry," she began to apologize even if she was unaware of what she was apologizing for.

"For how long will you keep up with the sorry?"

"I'm so sorry," she repeated, her voice breaking into a silent whimper.

"You're no good to me. You take things that do not belong to you. You have no right to wear these clothes, you hear me? No right," he said, moving to her. She recoiled in fear and quickly encircled herself with her arms.

It was foolish to think she could protect herself if he decided to lash out at her, but she vowed to die trying. She knew she would rather die trying, and the mixed feeling was just there and also confusing for her to understand it too.

"Take it off!" He ordered, and she shuddered. If it was in fright or pleasure, she didn't know. The two feelings were always mixed every time she was close to Ares.

"I said take it off and make sure you ask before putting on any clothes from henceforth," he growled in anger.

She sighed in relief as she felt the door bang behind him. She didn't need to be told twice as she quickly pulled off the clothes. She did not understand why these clothes caused him to treat her as he had just done.

"Why does he despise me so much?" She questioned herself at the brink of tears. She began to pull at her skin. She hated herself more than ever right now.

Even though he was mean to her in every way possible, she couldn't help the attraction she felt toward him. She felt something different whenever he was around her.

"Why?" She asked, crying now. "Why did it have to be him?" She had never been attracted to any man in her twenty-two years of living.

All of a sudden, her body responded insanely ways to this man who treated her like dirt. She suddenly got up. She was done and done. She wanted to go back home now, and if she were refused, she would claim to kidnap.

There was no point in being kept here when the man responsible for all this didn't even like her. She needed to leave now. She thought as she gently folded the gown she had just taken off.

Left in just her bra and panties, she searched until finally, she located the gown she had worn the first day she was kidnapped here. She quickly put it on and slowly began to plan her escape.

"Not again, Ares!" Lory stomped her feet in annoyance back in Ares's office.

"Why do you do this? That girl has done absolutely nothing for you to treat her the way you do. What is it about a piece of clothing that had you so bent out of shape? Please do tell," she insisted, pacing around.

The dejavu of the moment was not lost on Ares. He could swear he had seen this exact scene before. Honestly, he was bored with it all.

There was nothing special about the girl that should be causing this much trouble. He thought the moon goddess was playing a trick on him. He would have much preferred he wasn't assigned another mate.

"That clothing belonged to Leslie, so yes, I had every right to be angry at her for wearing it," he finally said.

"So that's really what this is about? Leslie?" She said, staring pitifully at her brother.

"You asked a question, I replied. Whatever you choose to deduct from that is not a business of mind. Please shut the door behind you when you leave," he said, dismissing her.

"Hell no. You can't just drop something like that and expect me to leave it at that. I have a distressed girl out there crying that she wants to go back home. Do you know how bad it is here for her to want to go back to a life of poverty and loneliness? Can you think of someone aside from Leslie for once? The sky can bare me witness that I loved Les, but she is dead, Ares. You have a new mate now. Why can't you let go?"

"Get out," he returned stubbornly.

"I will leave but not without warning. If you keep up with your attitude, you'll lose her. And just like I warned you before, losing her is not something you can ever recover from" she walked out of his office and headed straight to Jamie's room.

It was finally time to tell her why her brother was so stubborn. She knocked at the door a third time before Jamie finally opened it up for her.

"Hey," she smiled sweetly as she entered the room. "What are you doing?" She asked a tired-looking Jamie.

"Contemplating different escape routes," she confessed.

"I know it's hard, but you don't know the whole story yet," Lory sympathized.

"I don't know what you don't tell me," Jamie laughed humourlessly.

"That's why I'm here. It's time for you to know the whole truth. Come sit," she patted the space beside her on the bed and waited for Jamie to oblige before she began.

"You do not know this, but a mate is like the other half of a world in a pack, especially an alpha. Ares had one before you. She was beautiful and sweet and lovely. Everyone adored her. Sadly she died protecting Ares. He blames himself for not being able to protect her. He says it should have been him and not her. He loved her beyond words. That's another thing you need to know. The bond between the alpha and his luna is greater than any other force in the world. Also, it's not so often that a wolf is blessed with two mates in a lifetime, so you must understand how difficult it is for him to adapt. I know I'm asking for something difficult, but could you please bare with him until he becomes more accepting?" She pleaded with tears in her eyes.

As much as Jamie wished this was coming from Ares, she couldn't help but feel sympathetic. When her foster parents had left her, she didn't believe she would survive the darkness but here she was, still living. She began to understand Ares better.

"For you, I will. For my safety here, I will. For the goodness everyone in the pack has shown me, I will. I'll bare with Ares until his scars heal," she promised, and Lory tearfully pulled her into a hug.